Selling Beats Exclusive with samples!?

H

HonaCostello

New member
I have an artist that wants to buy a beat exclusively but i didnt clear the sample. I was thinking 350$ for exclusive rights. But is this to much seeing as how i didnt clear the sample?
 
The likelihood of you getting busted for it is next to nothing. People do it all the time, look at Girl Talk and Pretty Lights. I was just saying that if you didn't clear the sample, it's technically illegal whether you charge $1 or $10,000.
 
I don't look at it as bein illegal, although people look at the idea of sampling in general as illegal. It's up to the artist/label to get the sample cleared! It's not your job.
 
Ya just let him know it's a sample so he doesn't say anything down the road. It's up to the artist to get it cleared since he's the one RELEASING the music and will even eventually profit off of it. But like I said just let him know so he doesnt bother you about it in the future since you let him know.

But it also depends how chopped the sample, if you didn't make it obvious then no one will know.
 
Sounds of Solitude said:
This is a twist I was not aware of. Isn't it up to the person selling the beat to get the sample cleared? They're making money off of it too.
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If you really wanna go out of you're way to do that you can lol. The reason it's up to the label is because those are the people who can actually get in contact with the owner with the least amount of effort as possible. Picture you tryna get a hold of Motown (whoever owns the rights now) to get a sample cleared. Also keep in mind not everyone is gonna charge you to clear it, although it's likely most everyone will. If the song sucks they could just tell you no lol. They can't stop you from puttin it on a mixtape or leakin it on the internet. This is one of the topics like leasing beats how some contracts have the 'You can only distribute xxxx number of copies then you have to buy a new lease'. No one really gives a fuk lol. As long as I get my money up front cause most these niggas ain't makin shit on the backend..
 
Sounds of Solitude said:
This is a twist I was not aware of. Isn't it up to the person selling the beat to get the sample cleared? They're making money off of it too.
Click to expand...


Not necessarily. It just depends upon the agreed terms. Just have it in writing that it is the artist's responsibility to get it cleared (more than likely he won't). But unless the end result ends up getting in major rotation their will never be a problem. Even if the artist gets sued down the line you are covered by the terms of your signed agreement.
 
Sounds of Solitude said:
This is a twist I was not aware of. Isn't it up to the person selling the beat to get the sample cleared? They're making money off of it too.
Click to expand...

I'm saying that's how it would work in a standard industry situation. It would be the artists responsibility which would get relegated to the record label since they are the ones responsible for the entire budget of the project. And in a lot of case only labels could provide the funding needed for expensive samples, it would not be worth it for the artist to pay out of his own pocket especially with the uncertainty of record sales and profits these days.


But in this case it may work different because your dealing with a lesser known artist and a much smaller budget. So in these cases I would assume it's all based on the individual contracts in each individual case. A contract is the only certain thing.
 
dont worry sell the beat, make that money and if u feel generous send me half of it, I need to buy an mpc =/
 
Unless the artist is planning on going gold or platinum you probably shouldn't worry. Labels will only go after you if the music is mainstream enough for them to have even heard of it (or get on whosampled.com, a site built to educate people on how music is connected but is also sometimes used by labels to find out who's using their stuff) and someone's making money off of it. If it didn't sell that well, it's not worth a lawsuit because they can only take whatever profit a lawyer can prove you made off of it.
 
Illegal, yes. Unheard of, no. Is the sample super obvious and recognizable? I feel like if i manipulate samples to the point that you can't tell where they came from, or they say something different entirely, that's fair play
 
Though in this guys case I highly doubt he will get sued. In the legal system there is no such thing as fair play. On top of that, if you are making BIG money sampling other peoples stuff, you should pay regardless of how different your beat sounds as your beat wouldn't exist without the original work.
 
Are you guys just making up stuff?

I personally talked to 9th Wonder about this. Its the record labels responsibility for release a record that contains a sample.
It's not illegal to sell a sampled beat to a label or to an artists, it becomes illegal when the track gets put on wax and is sold with out a proper clearance of the sampled material.

However, its the responsibility of the producer to forwarn the rapper or label, or whoever is purchasing the track, that it contains a sample.

Usually, how it works, is say you sampled a Diana Ross record, and the beat you sold made it on a big time Interscope record for Yelawolf or something. Motown records will file a lawsuit against Interscope. Not necessarily the producer (for the most part, it all depends on the law suit and the contracts of BOTH sides).

If in the contract, you never claimed that you sampled Diana Ross, Interscope could in turn sue you now.

Its a big mess. But I've witnessed stuff like this first hand, and spoke with other producers about this.
 
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I can't believe the problem is never sold. Why can't there be a clear and ONE simple answer? What is the LAW say about that?
 
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